Infinite Realm

"Thank you."

The two words resounded in the ears of Sato even after the body of the goblin boss, Sygrart, had fallen down. Initially, Sato was confused as to why a monster whom he had just slain would thank him but after witnessing the illusion that held the memories of the fallen opposition's commander, Sato felt he had understood a bit as to why so.

Sygrart must have felt lonely and torn apart over not being able to keep the one closest to him alive. For such a love-struck individual, losing the one they love and having to live felt more like torture than comfort. Stuck in a continuous cycle of torment and anguish with the harrowing regret of having left his loved one behind and not even bothering about how she had been doing, Sygrart most likely blamed himself for everything and buried himself in occultic and hermitic practices to try and find a way to revive her. Despite so, he hadn't found anything so far relating to resuscitation and revival as such, his mind leaned more to ending it or and joining her in the land of the dead. However, as the chosen one of their tribe's god, he couldn't commit such an atrocity.

Sygrart then lived his life on the surface as a devote worshipper and leader of another goblin tribe but beneath this façade he was in agony and loneliness. As he couldn't revive his beloved, he turned to his hatred against the people that ended her life and that led to here. Though he had somewhat succeeded by ending the lives of a few adventurers, he had fallen at the hands of the very humans he despised. Despite this, Sygrart was grateful, as his long life of anguish and torment had finally come to an end and perhaps, he might once again see the love of his life.

'Rest in peace then.' Sato prayed for his foe. Even though it was just a game, Sato was pleased with the character build and background, as such he felt sympathy towards Sygrart. However, if they were still to battle one another again, Sato wouldn't go easy on him after all, their interests clashed.

"I'll share the loot."

Yukino stepped closer to the body and began looting it. Sato narrowed his eyes but he didn't say anything. Emperor's Might was a super guild and though Sato wasn't scared of them, he wasn't willing to offend them unless their interests clashed. Either way, Yukino did have the right to share the loot because not only was she the strongest player present, but her forces had the highest numbers here. If that wasn't enough, Emperor's Might was actually the first to arrive in the boss' hall plus they played a crucial part in this battle because both the MT and healer were part of the guild.

While she was organising the loot, Sato grouped up with Fudo some distance away from everyone else and they began discussing.

"I don't trust this guy." Fudo whispered while glancing at Dream Tiger before he turned his face to another direction. Fudo never really liked to underestimate his opponents as such, he had only glanced at Dream Tiger for a very short while to prevent him from noticing that he was being spied on. But that short motion was enough for Sato to realise who he was talking about.

"You too?" Sato lifted his eyebrows at Fudo's statement. Ever since he felt a slight bit of hostility from Dream Tiger while they fought Riddled Tree, Sato had been keeping his distance and being alert around.

"Oh? You also feel strange about him?"

"Yeah. When we were handling the other players, I always got the feeling that he was trying to eliminate me but so far, he hasn't really made much of a daring move apart from when he tried to attack me." Sato recounted his experience with Dream Tiger.

"That bastard really dare?!" Fudo almost lost his composure.

"Relax fat pig."

"I'm relaxed. I just can't believe he did something like that." Fudo replied.

Ever since his father had left him, Fudo only had a few people he could call friends, much less family. To him, Sato was his brother though not by blood but by bonds possibly stronger than that. Like the proverb 'a close neighbor is better than a distant cousin'[1], Fudo cherished the relationship he had with this 'brother' as they had walked through thick and thin together. Anyone who would try to harm those close to him would have to face his ire, even if it was in a VR game.

"We can't do anything about it yet plus I might just be thinking too much. Whatever, let's just get our own share and leave here quickly. Being with all these guild players has been making me feel uncomfortable." Sato sighed.

Fudo kept quite as he realised that Sato was a bit down and as his best-friend, he obviously knew the reason why but there was nothing he could do. As Sato had said, it would be better than they just get their share of the loot and leave quickly.

"I'm done." After 5 minutes had gone by, Yukino called out to all the players present.

"For the sake of fairness, I will send the loot info to everyone here."

Yukino then opened her system interface and sent the information to the players one by one. As they had fought in an individual format, except for the guild players who had obviously made a party system for themselves,[2] Yukino would have to send any information to them via the in-game mail system.

[[ System Notification :

[[ Rackow's Guard : Low Tier Rare-Steel Rank : Level 10 : Durability 70

Adventurer Rackow was an amazing Guardian class human well known for his bravery in facing an opponent whether big or small. This was his shield which he had used in his early days. Forged with 2 star high quality material Dawn Steel, to the extreme by a high ranking Blacksmith.

Requirements : Level 10 || 25 [Strength]

[Physical Defence] +65

[Magical Defence] + 55

[Strength] +10

Blue Aegis : Create a blue transparent shield with 150% of defensive properties[3] and 200% of User's HP as Shield HP

Cool-down : 30 seconds.

System comment : Apparently, Rackow's Guard was previously bought by an adventurer who admired Rackow. This adventurer was said to have went missing awhile back leading to the priced treasure going missing. Now you should have guessed what became of him. Just hope you don't end in the same path. Teeheehee. ]]

[[ Blue Jade Necklace : Low Tier Rare-Steel Rank

+5 Luck

+10% affinity to Mana

+5 [Vitality]

+5 [Willpower]

Soothing Touch : Passive : Wearer's mind would usually be calm and relaxed but this has a limit especially in serious situations that may overburden them or special locations.

Clear Mind and Heart : Active : Instantly clear the thoughts and heart of the wearer granting them release from any mental status effects.

Cool-down : 45 seconds. ]]

"Rare-steel rank!"

"Not just one but two!"

Everyone's eyes lightened up upon seeing the level of the shield and necklace. So far yet, players have only encountered Mortal rank weapons and even if they had seen Rare-steel rank weapons, it would only be in NPC high establishments like Grynx Merchandise. Even still, the price tags on these products were more than enough to scare the living hell out of them; even the big guilds didn't dare to spend their liquid funds so extravagantly as the returns wasn't really worth the investment. Because of this, they could afford the next best thing, Upper Tier Mortal Rank equipment.

"If anyone knew of this, they would die of envy or worse, try to rob it." Fudo sighed.

Currently, most players still used Low Tier to Mid Tier Mortal Rank equipment. Even the expert[4] solo players and core members of the big guilds could only have a few pieces of Upper Tier Mortal Rank but never a full body equip. If the rarity of Upper Tier Mortal Rank is this serious, one could only imagine how scarce Rare-steel ranks are. They are so scarce that Rare-steel ranks haven't been seen or heard of. Because of this, a rumor had recently spread out that the game developers had added the feature that no Rare-steel rank weapon would be gotten while the players were still at the Town stage. Whether this rumour is true or not has yet to be proven but a few players had speculated that it might be true despite the claims by the company that the game is entirely supervised and monitored by an AI.

However, it might be possible that someone must have gotten one since they are made available in stores, and not show it off. Like the saying goes, if a treasure is in the hands of an ordinary man, it would attract trouble, some might actually wield Rare-Steel weapons and equipment but do not desire to let anyone know lest they get robbed of their treasure. Most people however, doubt this as the price isn't necessarily something a solo player can easily afford, neither would a guild in their right mind spend a lot for just a little advantage.

This uncommonness of Rare-steel ranks have made them a precious commodity in the eyes of players. As the saying above still applies here, it is highly undeniable that if the outside world were to know of this, unless one has the backing of a guild, he or she would must likely be robbed of this treasure and all their belongings.

"The difference is indeed clear." Sato sighed.

Even though they were of two different functions, Sato couldn't help but compare it with his Dawn Steel Armor after all, they were both made with the same 2 star material, Dawn Steel. As he compared them, Sato couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the difference. He couldn't help but feel scammed at the large difference in strength.

'Even though the Dawn Steel Armor has attributes in all forms of defense alongside [Endurance] and [Strength], Rackow's Guard has more attributes and doesn't seem to be weaker. Rather it's actually more stronger. Damn.'

"That system comment does sound quite ominous and what' with the teeheehee? Is the system acting like a little kid?!" Fudo aimlessly complained.

Apart from Rackow's Guard, the Blue Jade Necklace was also quite impressive. In fact, if not for the appearance of Rackow's Guard, it might have become the second most precious item obtained in today's harvest. Why?Because it was an accessory. Accessories were really rare and quite precious. So much so that when Sato and Fudo had gone to Grynx Merchandise, their accessories were all stored at the second and fourth floor! The second floor held the Rare-steel rank items whereas the 4th floor held anything above that rank. For the accessories to be there surely showed their worth.

According Aaron, accessories are a lot harder to obtain as unlike equipment and weapons which only need the hands of a skilled blacksmith, accessories require both a blacksmith and a Jeweller to team up. For the better ones, not only are a Jeweller and blacksmith required but also a scribe. Such a lineup having to team up just to make a necklace, ring or bracelet should be more than enough to tell that the end product would surely cost a lot. Even though sometimes a blacksmith or a Jeweller could easily make them as long as they have some already made parts available, the end product is usually weaker than an original work.

Though Blue Jade Necklace seemed lacking when compared to Fudo's Igneel guidance, especially in terms of attacking prowess, the Blue Jade Necklace wasn't weaker than it. Apart from the impressive 10% affinity to Mana alongside the amazing +5 to Luck, the players were stunned at the skills. To be able to undo any influence on their mental states, this feature already lifted the Blue Jade necklace to another level. If they had this necklace, they could easily eliminate the effects of a [Fear] status when they encounter a boss much higher levelled than they were. Even though the Blue Jade Diamond wasn't so good in attacking, its +5 to [Willpower] and [Vitality] together with those two skills easily made it a top notch supportive equipment.

"This is...!"

AN :

Infinite Facts :

The Jeweller class are capable of enchanting gems, carving sigils and incantations on gems and also appraising gems.

I'm not sure whether that's exactly how it goes but it's quite similar. I don't think I need to explain it right?

To understand this better, East Crow made a party with Drunken Hog, Swift Blade and Dream Tiger. Emperor's Might made a party with Yukino, Chesces and the other two.

Defensive properties refers to both [Physical Defense] and [Magical Defense]. Summary of this shield ability is that it has both high defensive capabilities plus its own HP.

[4] From now on, the 'Expert' rank of players would be written with the 'E' in capital. As for the 'experts' with a small 'e', this would be used to refer to strong players. Simply put, it is a vague reference to a players strength and can be used to refer to god level, monster class, pinnacle and average experts and possibly even Veteran rank players.. I will eventually explain how the ranking is calculated.